Hello everyone! I hope your holidays were pleasant. I know what’s with this headline “Hope Floats”?(which is a title of a movie starring Sandra Bullock)…I will get to that in a minute. Today my review is on The Unstoppable Wasp issue #1 written by Jeremy Whitley, with art and coloring by Elsa Charretier and Megan Wilson respectively. Let’s also give a shout out to Joe Caramagna who is lettering this title. Unstoppable Wasp is about a young girl named Nadia who is the long lost daughter of a deceased Hank Pym aka Ant-man (older version not the one in the movies). Nadia was living in a Russian facility known as the Red Room before she escaped. In this facility she was part of the “Science Class” where she’d read classified documents from other secret agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA. In her studies she came across her father’s experimentation and research of Pym particles, in which she would use to escape the Red Room and set out to search for him in America. Now I mentioned earlier that Hank Pym is deceased so what does Nadia do? She applies for citizenship at the immigration office in New York, accompanied by Ms. Marvel. In the midst of the interview the city of New York encounters a giant robot operated by a female scientist named Monica Rappacini (no alias at the moment). Monica and her robot are challenged by none other than Barbara Morse aka Mockingbird. When the challenge became too challenging for Mockingbird, Nadia and Ms. Marvel decide to give her a hand in stopping Monica in her tracks. This incident and a conversation with Mockingbird inspired Nadia to form her own organization entitled Genius In Action Research Labs in short…. G.I.R.L without the ‘A’.

This brings me to my headline “Hope Floats”. In this issue Nadia briefly talks about her mother’s death after being abducted in Hungry. When she gave birth to her, she gave her a name that means ‘hope’. This meaning really fits Nadia’s personality, as she is highly enthused and optimistic about everything from the Pakistani donuts at a pastry shop to the “super” villain whose work she admired. Whatever the situation Nadia would see a bright side for it. The biggest entity that Nadia is optimistic about (shall I say hopeful) are female scientists and mathematicians. The sight, idea, thought of a female in the field of math and science much like Mockingbird and Monica Rappacini (to an extent) became her motivation to seek others like them. Her being a wasp adds on to the meaning of her name. Not only are wasps dangerous, the female species are known for its potent stinger. This is symbolic to Nadia piercing through any obstacle that comes her way and her willingness to study science while in an effort to inspire other females to do the same…and she’s doing it with wings.

I think Whitley has written a story for young girls that are interested in math and science. We see the torch being handed to the Wasp as Mockingbird remembers her younger years as a superhero. Mockingbird clearly has regrets as she tells the Wasp “you inspire ME”. The artwork by Charretier works well with bright the colors added by Wilson resulting in a fun, witty story for the young audience to enjoy. The down side is that things can get a bit drawn out with the conversations and Nadia’s positive attitude. I like the ‘science fact’ but I thought they could be a little clearer in detail. However, this is not a bad start for the first issue.The Unstoppable Wasp has potential and hope can only float one way….up.

Rating: 7.2/10

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